Safety-lock for vehicles



A. E MELLER.

SAFETY LOCK FOR VEHSCLES.

'APPLICATI N Patented Dec 21,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. E. MILLER.

SAFETY LOCK FOR VEHICLES. APPLICATION FILED AU G.8| 1919.

} 1,362,955. Patented Dec. 1920.

2 sHEETs- T 2.

' gnaw/whom- UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR E. MILLER, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

SAFETY-LOCK FOR VEHICLES.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Ann-run E. MILLER, acitizen of the United States, residing at Sacramento, in the county ofSacramento and State of California, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Safety-Locks for Vehicles, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to a safety means used on vehicles and adapted toabnormally set the running wheels thereof so that the vehicle cannot betaken away by an unauthorized person without said means giving visibleand audible indication of the act. Prior devices intended for a likepurpose have been open to the objection that the con structions theyemployed for securing the safety of the vehicle during the ownersabsence were found to offer but slight impediment to skilled menequipped with various forms of cutting appliances, and who could therebyand without difficulty and without exciting public attention, either cutthe fastening and remove the device, or deflate the pneumatic tire, ofan automobile, for instance, and then turn the alleged securing deviceon and relatively to the tire and rim until the active agent thereofusually in the form of a projection or spike-was moved to one side and asmooth portion of the encircling band carrying said spike or chock wasbrought over the center of the tread or shoe and on this newly presentedsurface the machine could be run without difliculty or annoyance or thedanger of exciting public attention. Many cars equipped with such priordevices such as I refer to, have been stolen in the manner stated byindividuals and organized bands of men and great loss of property andannoyance have been occasioned thereby.

The leading object of the present invention is to devise a safety deviceor signal which is designed to embrace and receive one of the spokes ofa wheel, said device being in the form of divided shackle, the two partsthereof are designed to be locked together to prevent their separationexcept by one who is able to unlock said parts; as for instance, bysomeone knowing the combination with which the lock may be set to securesaid parts.

In addition to the foregoing one of the parts of the shackle is providedwith a spike orprojection adapted to contact with the ground and liftthat side of the car in the Specification of Letters Patent. Pate t d D21 1920 Application filed August 8,

1919. Serial No. 316,156.

event of the car being moved and which splke or projection is locatedwhen the devlce is in place on the wheel, at one side of the verticalcenter of the wheel or tire, whereby if the car is run with the safetydev1 ce applied, the force applied to the aforesald point by the bumpingaction and weight of the car will result in the wheel being shiftedlaterally, either to the right or to the left according to which side ofthe center of the wheel the spike is located, and which shiftingmovement is transmitted to the steering wheel with force sufiicient tojolt said wheel out of the drivers hands.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists of thesignal lock, and the parts thereof which I will hereinafter point out inthe appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and inwhich similar reference characters indicate like parts in the severalviews;

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of a tire with its felly and portionof a spoke showing my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 represents the safety signal device in its unlocked and openposition.

Fig. 3 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of the meeting ends of thetwo parts of the shackle.

Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7, illustrate modifications which I will hereinafterrefer to.

In carrying out my invention I construct the frame or main portion ofthe device in the form of a divided shackle so that it may be readilyapplied to and detached from the tire and inner rim of a felly of anautomobile wheel or like part, said frame or shackle being, preferably,specially formed so that it not only embraces or extends transverselyaround the shoe or tread of the tire, but it may also fit over orembrace the usual felly and have a part constructed to fit and embraceone of the spokes of the wheel. Preferably, the shackle is of asectional character; two sections 10 and 11, are preferred and these arehinged together at 12, so that one section may be opened and closedrelatively to the'other, one of said sections having an enlargedterminal, to which is rigidly and permanently fixed a lock casing, 13,of some suitable character adapted to contain complementary tumblers andactuating devices of an appropriate character and which are not shown,in detail, since they form no part of the present invention. Any of thewell known suitable forms of combination or pad locks may be used forthe purpose of securing the free ends of the divided shackle when theseparts properly embrace the tire and spoke and are brought intoengagement, as will be readily understood by those skilled in this art.

By reference to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the section 10 of theshackle which carries the lock casing has a projecting arm l-i, adaptedto enter a recess, 1%, in an opposing part of the other section, 11, ofthe shackle, and that this last mentioned section of the shacklelikewise has the projecting arm, 15, which is designed to enter hole orrecess, 15, in .the enlarged portion or head of the section, 10, of theshackle which carries the lock casing, the last mentioned arm, 15,having a notch, 16, which is designed to be engaged by a suitable lockbolt, 17, in the lock casing in themanner more or less common to theusual pad-- locks, so that when the two sections of the shacklearepressed together they become securely locked and can only be releasedby withdrawal of the bolt from its engaging clamp or engage the innerand outer notch and which operation can be effected only by one who isfamiliar with the lock and the combination by which it can be opened.

The two arms, 14: and 15, are so positioned with respect to each otheras to admit oi the sections of the shackle being passed one on each sideof one of the spokes of the wheel; in other words, the shackle isdesigned to receive and embrace a spoke and hence the device when it isoperatively in place cannot be turned relatively to the tire, even ifthe latter is deflated, a condition which has made it possible to turnother devices intended for a similar purpose.

To give added security to the lock, the upper portion thereof isfashioned with an offset or a recess, 18, which receives the usual tellyand practically embraces the same on three of its sides. This recess isproduced by the arms 1a and 15 and. the flat faces 18 on the inner sidesof the free ends of the sections, which faces are adapted to sides ofthe usual wheel telly, as shown. Such a construction as I have describedabsolutely precludes the possibility of the device beingturned'relatively to the tire unless it is substantially whollydestroyed, an act which would consume considerable time and would invitepublic attention and thus make it unsafe for the party who is tamperingwith the car.

One of the leading features of my inventionis the location of the spikeor pro je'ctioh, I9, with which the shackle is provided. As 1 shown inthe drawings, this spike or projection is carried by one of the sectionsof the shackle and it is located at one side of the vertical center ofthe tire and the length of the projection is such that in the event ofthe car being run the point of the spike will contact with the ground,and this will lift that side of the car to a con siderable extent andthe ar thus produced will serve as a visible and audible signal that thecar is being operated without the owners permission.

Another and important result grows out of the location of the spike toone side oi the center of the tire and that is when the point of thespike or projection comes into contact with the ground and the weight ofthat side of the car rests thereon, it will be found that the wheel onbeinglifted will also be shifted forcibly to the right or to the left,depending upon which side of the center of the tire the point has beenpositioned. This sidewise shifting oi the wheel will not only preventthe car from being driven straight ahead, but the lateral thrust appliedto the point or projection will turn the steering wheel so rapidly as toforcibly twist it out of the hands of the driver. Consequently, the carcan only be driven in a circle, even if it can be driven at all,which isextremely doubtful. The point of the projection or spike may be bluntedor rounded, as shown at 20, in Fig. 4, or it may be provided with aground roller, 21, as shown in Fig. 5, or the point of the spike may berelatively sharp as indicated in Fig. 1.

I It is also not necessary that the spike or projection should be anintegral portion of the shackle, projection as being formed of aseparate piece, 22, turnably mounted on the axis of the pintle whichconstitutes the joint between the two parts of the shackle. By makingthe device as a separate part pivoted on the shackle, the shock which isgiven to the driver and to the car in the event of the attempt to runthe latter, will be similar to that before described, except that thelateral shifting of the car will be in the opposite direction. When thepivoted projection or block is employed I prefer that when it is not inforcible contact with the ground, that it beheld by some appropriatespring in the oint as indicated at 23, the arrange ment of the partsbeing such that the weight of the wheel will force the block into theposition shown in Fig. 7 and this will forcibly throw the wheel to oneside andtwist the steering wheel out of the hands of the operator.

In the instances noted it will be seen that the device is not onlyapplied to the car in such manner that it cannot be axiallyturned, as itembraces both the telly and the spoke, but that it the attempt is madeto run the and in Figs. 6 and 7, I show the.

car equipped with the device there will result the audible signal due tothe action of the projection in its contact with the ground, and thelateral shifting of the car to the right or left and sudden turning ofthe steering wheel so that the car cannot be run in a straightdirection. The maximum security is therefore afforded the owner of thecar provided with one of my improved attachments.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. A safety device for wheeled vehicles,said device being composed of hinged sections each having its free endprovided with a rigid arm, one of said sections having a projectionadapted to engage the road, said arms adapted to extend on oppositesides of and to inclose a spoke of the wheel, and a locking mechanismfor securing the free ends of the sections.

2. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device being composed ofhinged sections each having its free end provided with a rigid arm, oneof said sections having a projection adapted to engage the road, saidarms adapted to extend on opposite sides of and to inclose a spoke ofthe wheel, and a locking mechanism for securing the free ends of thesections, each of said sections having a recess adapted to receive theouter end of the arm of the other section.

3. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device being composed ofhinged sections each having its free end provided with a rigid arm, oneof said sections having a projection adapted to engage the road, saidarms adapted to extend on opposite sides of and to inclose a spoke ofthe wheel, and a locking mechanism for securing the free ends of thesections, each of said sections having a recess adapted to receive theouter end of the arm of the other section, and one of said arms having adetent end engaged by the locking mechanism.

4. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device being formed ofhinged sections having free ends extending past and adapted to embracethe wheel felly, said free ends of the sections having rigid armscrossing the inner side of the felly and extending on opposite sides ofa spoke, a projection on one of the sections adapted to engagethe road,and a locking device for securing said sections in closed position.

5. A safety device for wheeled vehicles,

said device being formed of hinged sections having free ends extendingpast and adapted to embrace the felly, a projection on one of thesections adapted to engage the road, a locking device for securing thefree ends of the sections in closed position, said looking devicecomprising a bolt and a locking casing made rigid with one of saidsections and provided with a rigid arm, an arm rigid with the othersection and extending oppositely to the first named section and spacedtherefrom, and a detent carried by one of said arms adapted to beengaged by the looking bolt.

6. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device being composed ofhinged sections each having its free end provided with a lateralprojection, said projections adapted to extend on opposite sides of andto inclose a spoke of the wheel, and a locking mechanism for securingthe free ends of the sections, one of said sections having a projectionon the lower portion thereof, and adapted to contact with the ground andimpart a bumping action to the vehicle during the running thereof.

7. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device being composed ofhinged sections, the free end of each of said sections having innerfaces which are parallel when the sections are closed, rigid armsprojecting in opposite directions from said inner faces and spaced apartand adapted to extend one on each side of a spoke, a projection on oneof the sections adapted to engage the road, and locking mechanism forsecuring the free ends of the sections and thereby holding the device inengagement with both the felly and spoke.

8. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device adapted totransversely embrace a wheel of the vehicle and having a projection onits lower portion positioned to one side of the vertical longitudinalcenter of the wheel and adapted to contact with the ground and to imparta sharp sudden side thrust to said wheel during the rotation thereof,said projection being pivotally mounted on the device and adapted to berocked about its axis and its position shifted when the projection issubjected to the weight of the vehicle.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

ARTHUR E. MILLER.

